More freedom set for booming game market
A character from a video game is set up in Shanghai New International Expo Center for ChinaJoy 2014, the country’s biggest annual game fair that opens on Thursday.
China will simplify the procedures needed to launch video games and strengthen intellectual property rights to boost the industry, Shanghai Daily learned at ChinaJoy 2014 on Wednesday.
Integration among games, films, telecommunications and theme parks is a rising trend in the domestic market, industry officials said during the opening of the country’s biggest annual game fair.
The government will continue improving efficiency by giving more cities the power to approve games, greatly simplifying application procedures, said Sun Shoushan, deputy director of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.
Shanghai is the only city now allowed to approve games, Sun said.
In the first half of this year, revenue in the domestic game industry totaled 49.6 billion yuan (US$8.03 billion), up 46.4 percent from the same period last year. Mobile games accounted for a quarter of the total and jumped 395 percent year on year. Domestic game firms generated combined revenue of US$800 million overseas, rising 67 percent year on year, Sun added.
But some game titles based on popular novels and films face IPR problems, which holds back the industry, speakers told the forum.
“New policies must be set to crack down and prevent IPR infringement in the industry while game developers should have a better understanding of their social responsibilities,” Sun said, without providing more details.
About 30 executives from leading firms including Tencent Inc, Shanda Games, Qihoo 360, Giant and Blizzard Entertainment shared ideas about the industry and their development strategies.
Chen Jie, vice president of Qihoo 360, said mobile games will be the company’s new focus as the number of users increased from 170 million a year ago to 250 million now.
“It’s more convenient to play mobile games on smartphones because people always bring their phones with them,” said Xiao Hong, the chief executive of Perfect World.
The speakers spoke highly of industry integration between gaming companies and other sectors like film and literature.
Cheng Wu, vice president of Tencent, said they will continue focusing on cooperating with various industries such as creative art and media to provide a variety of games.
Huayi Brothers, one of China’s top film studios, plans to work with different companies to build a theme park in Suzhou. Huayi Chairman and CEO Wang Zhongjun said the goal is to combine games and movies with recreation facilities.
Microsoft Corp’s Xbox One will debut on the Chinese mainland in September with a starting price of 3,699 yuan (US$596) through local partner BesTV, making it the first foreign game console to be sold on the mainland in the past 14 years.
More than 70 games by 25 developers including EA, Ubisoft, Tencent and Perfect World will be available for the Xbox on its mainland debut.
Chinese-language and free games will also be available for the new Xbox. Other games will cost from 99 yuan to 249 yuan each, according to Microsoft.
Game console sales were banned in 2000, but it was lifted with last year’s launch of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone. In May, Sony Corp said it would set up a joint-venture with Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group to bring the PlayStation 4 console to China.
Both Sony and Microsoft are attending ChinaJoy 2014.
Meanwhile, Microsoft will also offer a Kinect package with the Xbox One for 4,299 yuan, which includes several games. The Xbox One and Kinect package costs US$449 on Amazon.com in the US market, 35 percent cheaper than the price on the Chinese mainland.